Soulbound
by kakashi2000
Summary: Sometimes, things have to happen to make you realise how you trully feel about someone : KAKAIRU
1. Home is where the heart Is : I

**HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS**

**PART 1**

Pulling down his face mask, the lone, worn-out shinobi finally let down his guard for the first time in so many days at the sight of his beloved village. Smiling to himself, he inhaled long and deep, taking in as much as the sweet fresh smell of the surrounding air and slowly, very slowly let out a sigh of relief.

After weeks of struggling and suffering, he, Hatake Kakashi was finally home.

_Home…._

Underneath the winter moonlight, Konohagure looked even more beautiful and the sight brought a warm feeling into his already chilled body. He missed his village, that was true enough; but if he was really being truthful especially to himself, he would admit that the heady feeling he gets each and every time he walked through the Great Gates after successfully completed a mission was due to the anticipation of being able to see a certain pony-tailed Chuunin-sensei again.

_Home is where the heart is_…..Kakashi remembered hearing those words from Maito Gai a long, long time ago. He did not really think much about it then, discarding the phrase to the back of his mind as one of Gai's Summer of Youth speeches. However, recently he found himself pondering a lot about such things and the thought of this sudden interest made him smile.

To have a special someone could be a person's source of strength as well as weakness. This was something Kakashi knew for a fact where Umino Iruka was concerned.

It took some time and a lot of soul searching and death defying incident to finally came to terms with himself and admit that what he had with the Chuunin-sensei has always been special.

Even from the beginning; from the moment Iruka had held his hand beside his father's grave on that fateful night twenty years ago, Kakashi could feel the strong bond between them. It was something that defies logical comprehension even for a twenty seven year old genius like himself and he often wander what exactly was happening between them.

One thing was definite. Iruka was his friend.

In fact he was the Copy-nin's best friend ever.

In spite of their contradicting nature, status and rank, both of them complemented each other perfectly. To Kakashi, his friend has managed to influence him like no other could, turning his grey dreary world upside down with sunshine and warmth. The Chuunin was the one who taught him how to live again, to be alive and to be human even though at times he found it very hard.

Because of that, Iruka in his own gentle nature was Kakashi's most precious person and has a firm place in Kakashi's well guarded heart.

Maybe that was the reason why the need to protect the village intensified of late.

The Copy-nin needed to feel secure that his village was safe and that his Iruka was also safe in it.

" Home is where the heart is " Kakashi whispered into the night and smiled when he finally understood the true meaning of the phrase.

_I'm finally home Ruka…._


	2. Home Is where the heart Is : II

Disclaimer : As always, Naruto is not mine……I'm just fooling around with the chracters.

A/N : This is the continuation of the first chapter

To those who reviewed, thanx for the feedback…and if you like this story, don't worry,

it's far from over.

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**HOME IS WHERE THE HEART IS**

**PART 2**

Jiraiya reached out his hand to trail gentle fingers down the woman's tear stained cheeks. It has been more than twenty years since he last saw her in such a state and to see her grieve once again, and to see the light in those beautiful hazel eyes dimmed with the magnitude of her sadness was more than the silver-haired Senin could bare.

The poor woman was asleep now, exhausted, laying curled like a fetus on the sofa of her office.

The Senin smiled tenderly down at his dear old friend. This was the side of the Great Godaime few were privileged to see. The softer side of her character which reminded him why he cared for her so much and why he still loved her after all these years.

" It's not you fault Tsunade ", he whispered to the sleeping woman " you of all people should know that "

A sudden cold breeze wafted through the half-opened window making the slumbering woman shiver. Sighing slightly, Jiraiya stood up and walked towards the table to retrieve her cloak.

It was then that his keen senses detected the intruder hidden in the shadows of the office balcony. His battle instinct came to full alert when he felt the powerful, yet surprisingly unguarded charka.

_Strange for an enemy ninja to be so unguarded…._

Reaching his senses further he tried to decipher the charka pattern when a tall form emerged in front of him.

" Kakashi ? "

" Jiraiya-sama " the Jounin-Anbu said bowing slightly " I have... "

Before the Copy-nin could finish his sentence, the Senin had close the distance between them in two long strides and engulfed him a bear hug which was all too familiar. " Brat….we all thought you were dead " the huge man said ignoring the Jounin's slight protest at being handled like a child.

_Well, that's no surprise_…..Kakashi thought, considering the amount of effort he invested feigning his own death.

" The mission plan went horribly wrong and my team members were captured " he explained " the only way that I could complete the mission and save them was if the missing-nins thought I was dead "

" So you stage your own death and scare the hell out of us " concluded an angry female voice from behind.

Both the Senin and the Jounin-Anbu turned and saw a very red, and very pissed Godaime.

" Was that your ultimate plan Hatake ? " she demanded, voice seething with restrained anger " And here I thought you were a genius "

Kakashi was silent, his confusion made obvious by his furrowed brow. He thought that he did quite well considering the fact that he had managed to free the rest of his Anbu team members from imprisonment, steal the sacred scroll from the missing-nin's hideout, and also, above all, managed to elude himself from being captured. It was a task few could succeed and he was damn sure that such accomplishment would make both Tsunade and Jiraiya proud of him.

_But why are they so mad ?_

_Did I do something wrong ?_

" Forgive me Hokage-sama, I thought..."

" Idiot ! " Tsunade snapped, but the anger in her eyes was quickly replaced by a softer expression. Without saying anything else, the older woman wrapped her slender arms around the Jounin-Anbu's broad shoulders.

Kakashi froze at the unexpected gesture and then relaxed when he heard her soft sob of relief. " Tsunade-sama ? "

" Hush… " she whispered and held him closer. " welcome home, brat "

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The snow was coming down again and this time with a vengeance.

In spite of the frigid weather, Kakashi leap gracefully from one roof to another scanning the village for a specific Chuunin-sensei. He clutched the Anbu cloak tighter around him trying his best to ignore or rather tolerate the prickling cold wind that was lashing against his skin.

He had summoned all his nin-dogs to look for the Chuunin-sensei, but under the current weather , he knew that the dogs would have a hard time locating the specific scent.

After almost four hours of searching, his canine trackers finally returned to their master empty handed.

" We're sorry Hatake " Pakkun said on behalf of the rest " We can't locate Iruka's scent anywhere "

With those words, Kakashi felt the first pang of fear. Both he and his dogs had practically searched all the places he could think off, but still there was no sign of his little dolphin. Kakashi contemplated to continue the search at daybreak since they stand a better chance in finding the missing sensei, but Tsunade's words kept repeating in his head, gnawing painfully at his heart.

" _Kakashi, when the news was out that you were killed, Iruka was very devastated and angry " Tsunde said, eyes looking very worried " I've never seen him that way; filled with so much rage and vengeance. I know he's not the type to do anything stupid, but still the possibilities are there by the look of how he handled the news"_

" _I worry about that young Umino " she added " no one has seen him since we heard the news two days ago"_

Once again, the Copy-nin leapt high towards the skies continuing his desperate search. He knew that his body should be retaliating by now considering the amount of stress endured during the mission, but the thought of Iruka alone and sad or worse, in danger, propelled it further beyond the point of its normal endurance.

_I'm an idiot ,_ the Copy-nin berated himself again and again. He always knew that Iruka cared for him deeply. Even as children, the dark-haired beauty made no pretense in his affection for him. Yet in spite of that knowledge, he had miscalculated the aftereffect badly. He should have anticipated how the news of his so called death would effect Iruka, he should have been considerate of his friend's feelings

_Where are you, Ruka…_

It was nearly dawn when his anxiety turned into a full blown panic attack. Both he and Pakkun must have turned the whole of Konoha upside down trying to find his missing friend and even to some extend had used his Sharingan to aid his search.

But all efforts were in vain.

" 'Take…." Pakku began as they reached the memorial stones. " Iruka thought you were dead right ? He was really angry when Tsunade told them you were killed by the missing-nins. What if …..". The dog let the words trailed off, too afraid of the possibilities.

A cold hand of fear gripped tightly at Kakashi heart as he drowned on the full meaning of the nin-dog's implication.

" Pakun ! " he said, voice slightly trembling " Inform the Hokage where I'm going and bring reinforcements. Fast ! "

With that the Copy-nin disappeared into the night with a silent prayer.

_Kami-sama, please…please let me be wrong…._


End file.
